Hurry Up Already

Last week a friend at the lake took me out in his fishing boat to check on the progress of the baby loon.  I say "loon" and not "loons" as there is only one baby hatched in the nest closest to our place.  Maybe it was feeding time or perhaps this goes on all day long, but the parents couldn't dive and catch minnows fast enough for "baby loon."

Both parents would dive and quickly race back with a minnow which the baby scarfed down only to repeat it over and over.  We began to think that pretty soon the baby would be so big it wouldn't be able to dive.

Once in awhile the parent would "stretch their wings" as if to say, "when is this kid going to be full?"

Maybe as sign of growing up, the baby mimicked his parent in the stretching routine.  Maybe he was belching.  I got to wondering why the feeding frenzy?  Why the big hurry to grow up so fast?  Then it dawned on me.  The season is so short in the north country that in a month the parents will be leaving for the gulf or Atlantic Coast for the winter.  "Baby loon" will hang around for a few weeks longer before making his way south following the GPS left by his parents.

But there is another ominous reason to grow up fast.  Bald eagles like to lunch on baby loons.

Could that be why there is only one baby loon cruising the lake this summer, instead of two?  Hurry up already!